ممالك الشرق أم أدارس أطلال — Ahmed Shawqi

مَمالِكُ الشَرقِ أَم أَدارِسُ أَطلالِ

وَتِلكَ دولاتُهُ أَم رَسمُها البالي

Are these the East's kingdoms, or effaced remains of ruins?

And are those its dynasties, or their faded outline?

أَصابَها الدَهرُ إِلّا في مَآثِرِها

وَالدَهرُ بِالناسِ مِن حالٍ إِلى حالِ

Time has struck them down, save in their glorious deeds;

And time takes people from one condition to another.

وَصارَ ما نَتَغَنّى مِن مَحاسِنِها

حَديثُ ذي مِحنَةٍ عَن صَفوِهِ الخالي

And what we sing of their glories has become

An afflicted man's tale of his bygone serenity.

إِذا حَفا الحَقُّ أَرضاً هانَ جانِبُها

كَأَنَّها غابَةٌ مِن غَيرِ رِئبالِ

When justice forsakes a land, its defenses weaken,

As though it were a forest without a lion.

وَإِن تَحَكَّمَ فيها الجَهلُ أَسلَمَها

لِفاتِكٍ مِن عَوادي الذُلِّ قَتّالِ

And if ignorance rules there, it surrenders it

To a ruthless, deadly assailant among humiliation's scourges.

نَوابِغَ الشَرقِ هُزّوهُ لَعَلَّ بِهِ

مِنَ اللَيالي جُمودَ اليائِسِ السالي

Geniuses of the East, shake it awake; perhaps within it lies

The torpor, born of the nights, of the hopeless and forgetful.

إِن تَنفُخوا فيهِ مِن روحِ البَيانِ وَمِن

حَقيقَةِ العِلمِ يَنهَض بَعدَ إِعضالِ

If you breathe into it the spirit of eloquence, and

The truth of knowledge, it will rise after grievous affliction.

لا تَجعَلوا الدينَ بابَ الشَرِّ بَينَكُمُ

وَلا مَحَلَّ مُباهاةٍ وَإِدلالِ

Do not make religion a gate of evil among you,

Nor a place for boasting and conceit.

ما الدينُ إِلّا تُراثُ الناسِ قَبلَكُمُ

كُلُّ اِمرِئٍ لِأَبيهِ تابِعٌ تالي

Religion is only the inheritance of people before you;

Each man follows his father and comes after him.

لَيسَ الغُلُوُّ أَميناً في مَشورَتِهِ

مَناهِجُ الرُشدِ قَد تَخفى عَلى الغالي

Extremism is not trustworthy in its counsel;

The paths of good judgment may elude the extremist.

لا تَطلُبوا حَقَّكُم بَغياً وَلا ضَلَفاً

ما أَبعَدَ الحَقَّ عَن باغٍ وَمُختالِ

Do not seek your rights through aggression or arrogance;

How far justice is from an aggressor and an arrogant man!

وَلا يَضيعَنَّ بِالإِهمالِ جانِبُهُ

فَرُبَّ مَصلَحَةٍ ضاعَت بِإِهمالِ

And never let its cause be lost through neglect;

For many a benefit has been lost through neglect.

كَم هِمَّةٍ دَفَعَت جيلاً ذُرا شَرَفٍ

وَنَومَةٍ هَدَمَت بُنيانَ أَجيالِ

How often resolve has raised a generation to heights of honor,

And a slumber demolished the edifice of generations!

وَالعِلمُ في فَضلِهِ أَو في مَفاخِرِهِ

رُكنُ المَمالِكِ صَدرُ الدَولَةِ الحالي

And knowledge, whether in its excellence or its glories,

Is the pillar of kingdoms, the state's adorned breast.

إِذا مَشَت أُمَّةٌ في العالَمينَ بِهِ

أَبى لَها اللَهُ أَن تَمشي بِأَغلالِ

When a nation walks among the world's peoples with it,

God refuses to let it walk in chains.

يَقِلُّ لِلعِلمِ عِندَ العارِفينَ بِهِ

ما تَقدِرُ النَفسُ مِن حُبٍّ وَإِجلالِ

For those who know it, knowledge deserves more

Than all the love and reverence the soul can offer.

فَقِف عَلى أَهلِهِ وَاِطلُب جَواهِرَهُ

كَناقِدٍ مُمعِنٍ في كَفِّ لَآلِ

So call on its masters and seek its jewels,

Like an appraiser scrutinizing a pearl dealer's palm.

فَالعِلمُ يَفعَلُ في الأَرواحِ فاسِدُهُ

ما لَيسَ يَفعَلُ فيها طِبُّ دَجّالِ

For corrupt knowledge does to souls

What a charlatan's medicine does not do to them.

وَرُبَّ صاحِبِ دَرسٍ لَو وَقَفتَ بِهِ

رَأَيتَ شِبهَ عَليمٍ بَينَ جُهّالِ

And many a scholar, if you paused beside him,

You would see the likeness of a learned man among the ignorant.

وَتَسبِقُ الشَمسَ في الأَمصارِ حِكمَتُهُ

إِلى كَهولٍ وَشُبّانٍ وَأَطفالِ

And his wisdom outpaces the sun in the cities,

Reaching the middle-aged, the young, and children.

زَيدانُ إِنّي مَعَ الدُنيا كَعَهدِكَ لي

رَضِيَ الصَديقِ مُقيلُ الحاسِدِ القالي

Zaydan, with the world I remain as you knew me:

Content with my friend, forgiving the envious hater.

لي دَولَةُ الشِعرِ دونَ العَصرِ وائِلَةٌ

مَفاخِري حِكَمي فيها وَأَمثالي

Poetry's realm finds refuge with me, apart from this age;

My glories there are my maxims and my proverbs.

إِن تَمشِ لِلخَيرِ أَو لِلشَرِّ بي قَدَمٌ

أُشَمِّرُ الذَيلَ أَو أَعثُر بِأَذيالي

If a foot carries me toward good or toward evil,

I tuck up my hem, or stumble over my skirts.

وَإِن لَقيتُ اِبنَ أُنثى لي عَلَيهِ يَدٌ

جَحَدتُ في جَنبِ فَضلِ اللَهِ أَفضالي

And if I meet a woman's son on whom I have bestowed a favor,

I disclaim my favors beside God's bounty.

وَأَشكُرُ الصُنعَ في سِرّي وَفي عَلَني

إِنَّ الصَنائِعَ تَزكو عِندَ أَمثالي

And I give thanks for kindness, in private and in public;

For kind deeds flourish with the likes of me.

وَأَترُكُ الغَيبَ لِلَّهِ العَليمِ بِهِ

إِنَّ الغُيوبَ صَناديقٌ بِأَقفالِ

And I leave the unseen to God, who knows it;

Indeed, unseen things are chests secured with locks.

كَأُرغُنِ الدَيرِ إِكثاري وَمَوقِعُهُ

وَكَالأَذانِ عَلى الأَسماعِ إِقلالي

My copious utterance and its resonance are like the monastery's organ,

And my sparing utterance is like the call to prayer upon the ears.

رَثَيتُ قَبلَكَ أَحباباً فُجِعتُ بِهِم

وَرُحتُ مِن فُرقَةِ الأَحبابِ يُرثى لي

Before you, I lamented loved ones whose loss bereaved me;

And parting from loved ones left me an object of pity.

وَما عَلِمتُ رَفيقاً غَيرَ مُؤتَمَنٍ

كَالمَوتِ لِلمَرءِ في حِلٍّ وَتِرحالِ

And I have known no companion so untrustworthy

As death for a man, at rest and on his travels.

أَرَحتَ بالَك مِن دُنيا بِلا خُلُقٍ

أَلَيسَ في المَوتِ أَقصى راحَةَ البالِ

You have rested your mind from a world without morals;

Is not death the utmost peace of mind?

طالَت عَلَيكَ عَوادي الدَهرِ في خَشِنٍ

مِنَ التُرابِ مَعَ الأَيّامِ مُنهالِ

Time's assaults stretch long over you in coarse

Earth that crumbles with the passing days.

لَم نَأتِهِ بِأَخٍ في العَيشِ بَعدَ أَخٍ

إِلّا تَرَكنا رُفاتاً عِندَ غِربالِ

Never have we brought it one brother in life after another,

Without leaving crumbled remains beside a sieve.

لا يَنفَعُ النَفسَ فيهِ وَهيَ حائِرَةٌ

إِلّا زَكاةُ النُهى وَالجاهِ وَالمالِ

Nothing benefits the soul there, while it is bewildered,

Save the alms of intellect, influence, and wealth.

ما تَصنَعِ اليَومَ مِن خَيرٍ تَجِدهُ غَداً

الخَيرُ وَالشَرُّ مِثقالٌ بِمِثقالِ

Whatever good you do today, you will find tomorrow;

Good and evil are weighed, weight for weight.

قَد أَكمَلَ اللَهُ ذَيّاكَ الهِلالَ لَنا

فَلا رَأى الدَهرَ نَقصاً بَعدَ إِكمالِ

God has brought that Crescent, Al-Hilal, to fullness for us;

So may it never see waning after fullness, through all time.

وَلا يَزَل في نُفوسِ القارِئينَ لَهُ

كَرامَةُ الصُحُفِ الأُولى عَلى التالي

And may there ever remain in the hearts of its readers

The honor the earliest scriptures hold for their reciter.

فيهِ الرَوائِعُ مِن عِلمٍ وَمِن أَدَبٍ

وَمِن وَقائِعِ أَيّامٍ وَأَحوالِ

Within it are marvels of knowledge and literature,

And of the days' events and changing circumstances.

وَفيهِ هِمَّةُ نَفسٍ زانَها خُلُقٌ

هُما لِباغي المَعالي خَيرُ مِنوالِ

And in it is a soul's resolve, adorned by virtue;

Together they are the best pattern for a seeker of greatness.

عَلَّمتَ كُلَّ نَؤومٍ في الرِجالِ بِهِ

أَنَّ الحَياةَ بِآمالٍ وَأَعمالِ

Through it you taught every heavy sleeper among men

That life is made of hopes and deeds.

ما كانَ مِن دُوَلِ الإِسلامِ مُنصَرِماً

صَوَّرتَهُ كُلَّ أَيّامٍ بِتِمثالِ

Whatever of Islam's dynasties had passed away,

You portrayed it, day after day, in a likeness.

نَرى بِهِ القَومَ في عِزٍّ وَفي ضَعَةٍ

وَالمُلكَ ما بَينَ إِدبارٍ وَإِقبالِ

Through it we see the people in glory and in lowliness,

And sovereignty between decline and ascendancy.

وَما عَرَضتَ عَلى الأَلبابِ فاكِهَةً

كَالعِلمِ تُبرِزُهُ في أَحسَنِ القالِ

And you have offered the intellect no fruit

Like knowledge, which you present in the finest words.

وَضَعتَ خَيرَ رِواياتِ الحَياةِ فَضَع

رِوايَةَ المَوتِ في أُسلوبِها العالي

You composed the finest tales of life; now compose

The tale of death in their lofty style.

وَصِف لَنا كَيفَ تَجفو الروحُ هَيكَلَها

وَيَستَبِدُّ البِلى بِالهَيكَلِ الخالي

And tell us how the soul forsakes its frame,

And decay tyrannizes over the empty frame;

وَهَل تَحِنُّ إِلَيهِ بَعدَ فُرقَتِهِ

كَما يَحِنُّ إِلى أَوطانِهِ الجالي

And does it yearn for that frame after parting from it,

As an exile yearns for his homelands?

هِضابُ لُبنانَ مِن مَنعاتِكَ اِضطَرَبَت

كَأَنَّ لُبنانَ مَرمِيٌّ بِزِلزالِ

Lebanon's hills trembled at the news of your death,

As though Lebanon had been struck by an earthquake.

كَذَلِكَ الأَرضُ تَبكي فَقدَ عالِمِها

كَالأُمِّ تَبكي ذَهابَ النافِعِ الغالي

So does the earth weep for the loss of its scholar,

As a mother weeps for the passing of one helpful and dear.